Akenside Traders

A pub of two halves, Akenside Traders serves a steady trickle of regulars in the week and a party crowd at the weekend.

The Venue
This pub, like the street, is named after Mark Akenside, a Newcastle-born 17th century poet and physician. He published the Pleasures of Imagination, and you’d have to have a bit to have fun here. It’s a one-room pub with an off-white decorated wooden ceiling, a stone floor and wooden pillars in the middle of the room with mirrors in their panels. The long bar faces you as you come in, and to the left is a disco party area with a rig of swivelling coloured lights casting beams across the floor.

There’s a sunken level at the front of the pub right up against the expanse of window and there are old creased leather sofas in the middle. On the far right there’s more of an eating area with paper menu placemats on the tables. There are pictures of old Newcastle on the walls, which is partially covered in a stretch of retro 70’s wallpaper. There are screens everywhere.

The People
While Akenside Traders gets a city and office crowd in the week, things really kick off at the weekend when stag and hen parties make up most of its trade. They carry on through till Sunday when you'll see girls, still in bunny ears, and guys, wearing witty slogan T-shirts, groaning into their orange juices.

The Food and Drink
The array of pumps all the way along the bar dispense Worthington, Carling, Stella, Budweiser, Strongbow, Guinness and Kronenbourg and in bottles there's Becks, Sol, Newcastle Brown, Magners, Budweiser, Peroni and Carlsberg. On the menu there are baguettes, sandwiches, jacket potatoes (£1.99 each), burgers (£3.95 for a cheese and bacon) and grills, including chicken skewers with chips and coleslaw for £2.99. A ham hock with scrumpy cider sauce is £6.50 and a cod and chips is £4.75.

The Last Word
It’s party heaven at the weekend — if you like a cheesy atmosphere and pickled punters. During the week perhaps Dr Akenside could be called upon to revive its fortunes.

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